MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court on Friday reduced the suspended sentences of all the defendants in the embezzlement case of US investor Michael Calvey, a TASS correspondent reported.

"The verdict of the court of first instance shall be changed. Michael Calvey is given a suspended sentence of four and a half years, Philippe Delpal is given a suspended sentence of three and a half years," the court ruled, thereby reducing the suspended sentences of the two main defendants by one year.

The court decision also slashed the sentences of other defendants in the case - former employees of the fund, Vostochny Bank and the "First Collection Bureau," under their control.

The court handed down suspended sentences of 3 years to Alexey Kordichev, 3.5 years to Vagan Abgaryan, 3.5 years to Maxim Vladimirov, 4 years to Ivan Zyuzin, 3.5 years to Alexander Tsakunov. In this form, the verdict entered into force.

In August 2021, they were given the following suspended sentences: Calvey received 5.5 years, Delpal, 4.5 years, Kordichev, 3.5 years, Abgaryan, 4.5 years, Vladimirov, 4 years, Zyuzin, 5 years, and Tsakunov, 4 years.

Consideration of appeals took place in the absence of the accused. The defense asked the court to reverse the verdict and acquit the defendants in the case.

"We consider the guilty verdict unlawful and ask the appellate court to overturn it," lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov appealed to the court.

In turn, the representative of the prosecutor's office asked the court to uphold the verdict. "The conditional sentence imposed by the court is already too lenient, we believe that there are no grounds for satisfying the complaints of the defense," the public prosecutor said.

Case of Michael Calvey

On February 13, 2019, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the embezzlement of 2.5 bln rubles ($30.2 mln) from the Vostochny Bank following a complaint by Serzod Yusupov, a minority shareholder in Vostochny Bank, filed with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Michael Calvey was the key defendant in the case.

According to the initial version of the investigation, Calvey and his accomplices put together a scheme, whereby the "First Collection Bureau," under their control, waived its right to a 59.9% stake in a Luxembourg-based company called the International Financial Technology Group (IFTG), to the Vostochny bank to pay it back for a 2.5 billion-ruble debt. Before the deal, IFTG’s shares were valued at 3 bln rubles. However, the investigation is examining another estimate of 600,000 rubles (according to a Cyprus-based company’s valuation). That said, the Central Bank claimed that the price of these shares was close to zero, the investigator noted. The defense later challenged that appraisal of shares referring to a lack of results from the financial investigation. Calvey denied the charges and called the prosecution against him an illegal attempt of the Vostochny bank minority shareholders to solve a corporate dispute.